The Future Begins Today
by xxkse21xx
Summary: I own nothing. This is merely for entertainment. Its the last night of summer and the gang is all together for one last time. Starting tomorrow the future begins. Chadpay/Rylsi..PLEASE REVIEW
1. Start of Something New

Sharpay Evans was home getting ready, carefully selecting her outfit for the party. She would of course be looking extremely hot and fabulous. She selected a sparkling pink mini skirt and a white tank top. Quite frankly Sharpay was not looking forward to tonight; to saying goodbye to everyone. Tonight was the last night she would be spending with her brother, Ryan, before he was heading off to Julliard. Though would she ever admit that to anyone? Never. There is more to Sharpay Evans than meets the eye.

A very short ride later, Sharpay was sitting in her car willing herself to get out and join her friends. She could hear the chatter of the East High seniors coming from just over the hill and she could faintly see the glow of the bonfire. Ryan had gone earlier so he could pick up Kelsi and take her out to dinner first. Sharpay spotted his car here already. Sniffling a little, she wiped a tear away and opened her car door. She was completely unprepared for what she was going to be greeted with.

Closing her car door, Sharpay walked over to the bench about twenty feet to her left. Biting her lip, she slid down on to the bench next to a very upset looking Chad Danforth. "Hey," Sharpay greeted him sullenly, trying to announce her presence. He looked far too deep in thought to recognize anyone else.

"Hey." Chad felt her presence but he was far too depressed to even use one of his favorite nicknames for Sharpay. "What..." Chad began to ask but couldn't figure out what he wanted to ask her.

"What brings you out here?" Sharpay asked him, with genuine concern turning up in her expression. "Shouldn't you be in there having a great time?"

Chad couldn't help but laugh at that. "You'd think. I don't see what there is to have a great time and celebrate about. Everything is _changing. _I don't want anything to change." He briefly paused before charging on. "My girlfriend, or should I say _ex-_girlfriend dumped me _tonight_! My best friend is leaving me to go to the other side of the country tomorrow morning..." Chad trailed off, finally fully realizing just who he was speaking to. "I hope I'm not boring you, princess." As soon as the words were out of his mouth he regretted them instantly. He looked at Sharpay for the first time and realized she looked just as upset as he did. She looked so much smaller and far more fragile than he remembered _ever_ seeing her. "I'm sorry. That wasn't fair."

Sharpay was uncharacteristically focusing on her shoes. She didn't have a biting reply or a dig to throw back at him. It was taking all of her energy to remain composed and reserved. Of course he still thought so little of her. The only person that didn't think she was so horrible was leaving tomorrow... No sooner than those thoughts crossed her mind, did the tears slowly start to fall.

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't cry," Chad instinctively began trying to calm and soother her. He wrapped his big arm around her shoulders and pulled her in to him. She fought against him of course but he was much stronger. "I didn't mean that. I'm just upset and mad and miserable and I was taking it out on you."

"It's not like I don't deserve it," Shar replied quietly. She knew she was a horrible, manipulative bitch. She didn't _want_ to be but it is what her parents had taught her to be. It was what she had always ever known and it wasn't easy to reprogram those buttons. "I'm sorry to hear about you and Taylor."

He shrugged his shoulders not really knowing what else to say. He wasn't entirely certain what he felt on that topic. It was unbelievably horrible of her to have waited so long to break up with him. They were going to try the long distance relationship but she had decided it would be far too hard. "I can't believe she broke up with me tonight. Here. Like half an hour ago," he admitted to Sharpay.

"She's an idiot."

Her voice was barely above a whisper but Chad had heard her. He couldn't believe he was having this conversation with Sharpay of all people. Chad reached over and wiped away the last tears that had spilled down her cheeks. Tilting her head to look up at him, he smiled down at her. "So are we going to sit out here and wallow...or are we going to join everyone else and have some fun with our friends?"

Sharpay laughed at that statement. "I don't have any friends in there. Except for Ryan." She started to choke up again at the mention of Ryan's name.

Her troubles became crystal clear to Chad in that moment. He brother, her twin and her only friend was on a plane to New York tomorrow morning. "You do have friends Sharpay."

She stopped him from speaking and began shaking her head. "No I don't. I've never been nice...I've been horrible."

"Remember what I said?" he asked, noticing the confusion her her big brown eyes. "Everything is _changing._ Now, I'd love it if my friend joined me for a drink and a good time." Chad stood up and held his hand out to Sharpay.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

He thought for a moment, honestly he really wasn't sure himself. What he did know was that this girl was far too pretty to be sitting out here crying all alone. He knew she would regret not spending the last night with her classmates, her _friends_ and her _brother. _They would _both_ regret wasting their night. "Because everyone deserves a second chance. Tomorrow is the start of something new."

Sharpay smiled at him and tried her best to make herself presentable again. When she was sure no one would know that she had been crying, she took hold of his hand and laced her fingers with his. She flashed him a smile, looking and feeling a little more like herself, as they both descended the hill to join the others around the bonfire.


	2. Dirty Little Secrets

When Chad and Sharpay came into view, holding hands no less, all eyes started focusing on them. Heated whispering and rumors started spreading like wildfire. Normally, Sharpay would revel at all of the attention but tonight she just felt so raw and vulnerable. Not that she let that show of course, except to Chad moments before. Right now, there was a perfect smile plastered on her face as she glanced over at Chad. Chad was smiling just as brightly, determined to enjoy the night rather than sulking about tomorrow. Neither of them could miss the looks burning through them from Taylor McKessie. He really was not doing this to be spiteful or to piss Taylor off. His intentions when he reached out to Sharpay were completely pure. Both of them deserved to enjoy tonight and he was making it his mission to see that it happened. Plus, both of them were going to U of A and it only made sense to try and be friends.

Troy shot Chad a look basically asking him, '_What the hell are you doing? Have you lost your mind?' _In response, Chad just grinned and shrugged his shoulders. He was positive that was a conversation Troy would not ignore or let go but that was for another time.

Sharpay's thoughts and Chad's were very similar. Except Sharpay thought she could help Chad out a little more than he could help her. She was going to make Taylor McKessie so regretful of her choice to break up with Chad. From the look on Taylor's face, she didn't _have_ to do much more but she was going to. Chad Danforth was so not Sharpay's type but she couldn't help but feel bad for him. What kind of person dumps their boyfriend hours before they are leaving _and_ at the East High Senior Farewell Bonfire too?

"You are attracting quite a bit of attention," Sharpay told Chad. Normally she would have pointed out that the attention he was acquiring was all because of _her_. Right now? Right now she thought that she would try that changing thing he had mentioned.

Chad grinned back at her, letting go of her hand and draping his arm across her shoulders. "See? You should have dropped your crush on Troy a long time ago. I'm _clearly_ more popular than he is."

Sharpay laughed a _real _laugh and rolled her eyes. He sure was not lacking in confidence but then again who was she to judge? She noticed that he was steering them right to Troy, Gabriella and Taylor. Sharpay looked around to locate Ryan and Kelsi but they were no where to be found yet.

"Hey Chad. Sharpay," Troy greeted them as they joined their group.

"Hey Chad," Taylor said to him, purposely ignoring Sharpay. "I thought you needed to get something from your car?"

Since Chad's arm was still stretched across her shoulders, Sharpay could feel the muscles in his body tense slightly. Oh, she could certainly cover for him and help him out. Taylor did not deserve to know how much she had hurt him and ruined his night. "Oh, that's my fault," Sharpay interjected quickly, with a giggle. "I literally bumped into him and we got to talking and, well here we are!"

Chad flashed her a grateful smile. If you told him a month ago that _he _would be grateful and appreciative of _Sharpay Evans_...he would have laughed in your face. But here he was, _thankful_ to Sharpay and her quick thinking. "Whatever it was couldn't have been that important if I got distracted that easy," he followed her lead and winked at her.

Troy felt like he stepped into an alternate universe. What was going on here? He was wondering what was going through his best friends mind. A large part of Troy was very relieved that Sharpay seemed to not be paying any attention to him. "I can't believe summer's over tomorrow," Troy mused, smiling at Gabriella who was hanging close to Taylor.

"Hey, you want to dance?" Sharpay asked, turning to Chad. She didn't want to reminisce about this being their last night and last hours together.

"Sure." Chad led her off to where others were dancing and they started dancing to the music.

Sharpay was laughing and shaking her hips as she watched Chad's big, curly hair bouncing all over the place. "Your hair is kind of cute. All over the place, but still."

"Is that a compliment?" He was clearly confused. Sharpay was being nice to him and no one else was around to hear it. When that song ended, the music changed from a fast beat to a slow ballad. Chad didn't back away but rather stepped forward and circled his arms around her tiny waist. She wasn't going anywhere just yet.

She slipped her arms around his neck and began playing with the hair at the base of his neck. "Maybe it is. What are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to thank you."

"Thank me? For what?" Sharpay had no idea what he could be thanking her for. Especially not after all of the trouble she's caused.

"For saving my butt back there," he answered a moment later. "I don't want Taylor to know about..."

Sharpay put her finger to his lips to silence him. "You don't need to thank me for that. I just, I couldn't see why she deserved to know. She lost that right the minute she broke up with you."

"I still thank you. You didn't _have_ to help me."

"I also couldn't resist a perfect opportunity to make her regret what she did," Shar responded, grinning from ear to ear. "So she thinks you moved on and very quickly might I add _and_ she can eat her heart out. Because you just went up about five steps higher than her," she teased.

Chad laughed heartily. "So modest."

"When have I ever been modest?"

"Good point," he agreed. "So was that you like living out your deep, dark fantasy? That you've secretly wanted me all along and you were trying to make me jealous by fancying Troy?" Chad asked teasing her right back.

Her face took on a very sculptured look of mock surprise. "However did you find me out?! I thought I was being _so_ inconspicuous!" Sharpay was giggling now though.

"Why are you never like this?" Chad blurted out. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he wanted to swallow them back up. He was afraid this might change their conversation.

Sighing loudly, she looked up into his eyes. She didn't know what she was searching for but she was searching for something. For some reason, with Chad she found some crazy sort of comfort. She couldn't understand it but she just felt it. She also felt understanding and acceptance. Nothing about tonight was making sense to her.

Looking into Sharpay's eyes at this moment, Chad was sure he could see deep down into her soul. He saw a lost girl vying for everyone's praise and admiration. Doing anything and everything to please her parents. All of the things she'd done in the past, didn't make Sharpay who she was. He suddenly realized that no one has ever taken the time to try and unravel the mystery of Miss Evans.

Here, in this moment, they connected.

"I've always acted that way because I wanted people to _like_ me. Like me for more than my looks or my money. I just...I didn't know _how_ to make that happen. Mother always expects certain things, wants certain things from me. I was trying to make that happen...in all the wrong ways." Sharpay wasn't looking at him now. She was looking down at them being pressed together, feeling ashamed of her last three years at East High. This was the most honest she'd ever been, even Ryan didn't know all of that. "It may seem silly to you," she continued quietly, "but I'm not at all very confident. I can _act_ like I am."

"Look at me," Chad said, almost commanding but much softer. When she didn't raise her gaze he reached under her chin and tilted her gaze up to look into his eyes. "If I'd known this Sharpay all along, I'd have always been your friend. If you continue to be this Sharpay? I think me and you can have a lot of fun at U of A," he finished, grinning broadly. "A _lot_ of fun."

She laughed nervously, biting her lip. She was trying to process everything she said, he said, this moment, tonight. It honestly felt like she stepped into some place like Wonderland where nothing seemed to make sense. Sharpay couldn't help it, she needed to break their gaze at one another. Her eyes flitted around the party to see Taylor and Gabriella staring at them. "We have an audience."

"Oh do we?" Chad asked, not having noticed. He actually hadn't thought of Taylor once since he started talking to Sharpay. "Shall we give them a show?" he asked, pressing his forehead against hers.

Sharpay couldn't help grinning against his lips as she leaned forward. She returned the kiss and found that she was enjoying it very much. When his tongue ran across her lips she gasped slightly but granted his tongue access. His tongue slipped into her mouth and suddenly she forgot about having an audience. She forgot about everything and everyone but Chad Danforth. Goosebumps popped up all over her skin and she tried her best to fight the shiver. Unable to fight it, her body shivered and she pulled back from Chad needing air. He pulled off his jacket without even thinking and draped it over her shoulders. Sharpay knew that she wasn't cold, it was her body reacting to him but she couldn't bring herself to admit that. Instead she stood there smiling, getting comfortable in his jacket. She was enjoying the way it felt, the way it smelled like him, how warm it was until another voice pulled her from her thoughts.

"If you tell anyone about the things I told you...I will kill you," Sharpay warned but failed at sounding menacing. Her voice was still husky with the desire to press her lips against his again.

"It'll be our little secret."


End file.
